


We're One Big Happy Family!

by Pins_and_Patches



Category: Five Nights at Freddy's
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Child Death, Child Murder, Hospitals, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, The Bite of '83, and the crying child is cassidy, forget that i said it probably won't have more than 3 chapters! im back on track baby!!!!!, fuck you ao3 /nm, im just kinda spitballing w/ relationship tagz ive never posted a fnaf fic before, listen. you cannot convince me henry emily wasn't like a parent to the afton kids, thats all this au really is tbh. just a bit of canon divergence here and there :), the afton kids' mother is named Nicolette btw!, why does it keep putting you can try but it won't work in front of the other tag, you can try but it won't work
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-15
Updated: 2021-03-08
Packaged: 2021-03-17 13:48:50
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,484
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29472726
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pins_and_Patches/pseuds/Pins_and_Patches
Summary: Each and every one of them bore a mask.Some were forced over their heads, others were put on by choice.But no matter what, they all wore a mask, and none of them could ever remove it.
Relationships: Cassidy & Charlotte "Charlie" Emily, Elizabeth Afton & Michael Afton, Michael Afton & Henry Emily, The Crying Child & The Five Missing Children (Five Nights at Freddy's)
Comments: 8
Kudos: 17





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Yea, Elizabeth probably died first and shit but this is an AU so 💃🕺💃🕺  
> I dunno why I'm trying to justify it, I've probably seen just as many ppl say the bite happened first as ppl who say Elizabeth died first  
> I almost fell down the stairs and broke my neck while writing /j (I did almost fall down the stairs but I don't think I would've broken my neck)

William Afton came into work around noon one day _fuming._ Growling and hissing to himself, repeating "stupid fucking kid" over and over, he seemed shattered _._ Tears were slowly making their way down his cheeks, and every movement he made was frantic and furious.

No one bothered asking why. Not only did they know Mr. Afton was never the type to give answers, but either way, they'd all heard about what had happened already.

Only a few minutes ago, an incident which had already become known as "the bite" had occurred. At a little boy's birthday party, his big brother and three other kids had stuffed the boy's head into the mouth of Fredbear, who was performing onstage. The boy's head had blocked Fredbear's mouth, causing it to break and Fredbear to bite down, crushing the little boy's skull.

That little boy had been William's youngest kid, a shy, quiet boy by the name of Cassidy now comatose and in the emergency room. And the kids behind the incident were William's oldest, Michael, and Michael's best friends.

A bunch of troublemakers, they all were. Jeremy, Veronica and Jennifer were frequent patrons of both Fredbear's Family Diner and Freddy Fazbear's Pizza, always getting scolded for horsing around on the carousel or chasing each other around the party rooms, but it was Michael who was the worst perpetrator, always teasing and scaring his little brother and causing a lot of trouble. It wasn't that he thought he could get away with it because his father owned the place, but rather that he knew he wouldn't- he seemed to enjoy getting caught and snapped at.

He would often get annoyed if he was let off with a warning, especially by Henry Emily, his dad's close friend and co-owner of Freddy Fazbear's, and a patient, honest man who would rarely raise his voice at most kids. Michael, being no exception to that, hated Henry's way of dealing with him, the way he would just tell him, "Better be careful, Mike. We don't want anyone getting hurt around here." Leaving Michael to shamefully climb down from wherever he was perched to jump off at Cassidy or kick down whatever he had set up and mumble an apology.

Right now, though, getting scolded in any capacity seemed to be what Michael most dreaded, because the boy's face was buried in his hands, his Foxy mask on the ground next to him, and the sobs coming from him were quiet and suppressed like he was trying to seem small and invisible. He hadn't moved from right by the entrance, even though William was long gone.

Henry slowly approached him, placing a hand on Michael's back.

"I didn't mean to hurt him..." Michael choked out. "I- I just..."

His voice trailed off, and Henry just stood by him quietly.

He had seen this sort of situation coming a mile away, but there wasn't much he could do but stand by and wait for it to crash and burn. This was far worse than what he'd expected, too.

And even if he had tried to protect Cassidy like he'd tried to protect his daughter, would it have mattered?

Charlie had died either way, after all.

No matter what he did...

William came bursting into the room again, pulling on his grey jacket even though there was barely a cloud in the sky. Henry noticed he was wearing the safety goggles he wore while working on animatronics and carrying a chest which clattered like it was full of supplies, and a slight concern started to build in him.

"Will, are you alright?" Henry asked and immediately winced, regretting the question. _How_ alright _could he be right now?_ "I- I mean, what's with the..."

"I'll explain later," William said, choosing to ignore Henry's initial mistake. "Michael, come on. We've got to break the news to your sister."

Michael looked like he was about to faint. "Oh god, Elizabeth..."

"Yeah, maybe you should've thought about that before. Are you coming or not?"

Michael nodded and followed along without another word.

The Foxy mask was left at Freddy's. Michael would've stayed there himself and waited for William to come back with his little sister, who would no doubt be crushed and furious, but he almost wanted to be there when it happened. He didn't deserve to hide from it.

He needed to be there.

It was, ironically, another birthday party that had kept Elizabeth busy. A friend of hers, a little girl Michael didn't know named Ginevra Brooks, whose birthday just happened to fall on the same day as Cassidy's.

Ginevra's house was nicely decorated, sleeping bags laid out in the living room and a half-eaten cake was set out on the table, but no children were on this floor. Voices and laughter from upstairs told Michael the kids must've been in Ginevra's room.

"Elizabeth!" William called.

It was Ginevra who came down, though, prancing down the stairs in her light blue-and-white striped dress, yellow denim jumper and brown sandals, her black pigtails bouncing with each step. She noticed William first, since Michael was half hiding behind him so no one would see the blood on his face, half staying close to the door of the house in case his terror overcame him and he needed to bolt so he wouldn't throw up or pass out.

"Hi, Mr. Afton! Hi, Michael!"

She didn't even seem to notice the blood.

Michael's fingers traced the doorknob, ready to turn and run.

"Hello, Ginevra. Happy birthday," He smiled. "Can you call Elizabeth for us?"

"What? Already?" Ginevra pouted, bouncing up and down like a little kid preparing to throw a tantrum. "You said until 1, it's only noon!"

"Don't be like that, Ginevra," William shot back. "It's a family emergency. We need Elizabeth _now_."

"Oh. Alright." Ginevra dropped the pouty act instantly and turned around. "Lizzie, your dad's here!"

"Coming!" Elizabeth called back as the sound of her footsteps rushing down the stairs came closer.

She appeared next to Ginevra, beaming widely.

"Thank you, Ginevra," William said. "Happy birthday, again."

Ginevra curtsied and skipped off back upstairs with the rest of the partygoers.

"Hi, Daddy! Hi, Mikey!" Elizabeth chirped, unnervingly cheerful, painfully oblivious as to what was happening.

Her wavy red hair, just like Ginevra's, was put up in pigtails, but she wore something much fancier- a lacy white sundress and white slip-ons that made _her_ look like the birthday girl instead of Ginevra.

"Are we leaving already?" She asked. "Wait, what happened to Michael? Did you get hurt?"

Elizabeth's wide, innocent green eyes and bright smile made Michael's stomach turn. He gripped the doorknob tightly, slowly tilting it.

"Y'know what, Elizabeth? Go say goodbye to Ginevra and your friends first," William told her.

She obediently trotted back upstairs, then emerged a minute later, carrying a goodie bag in one hand with her toy Mangle poking its head out the top.

"Is it time to go to Cassidy's party now?"

The small, pale yellow paper bag dropped against the sidewalk and tipped over. Plastic toys and little bags of candy spilled out, scattering across the concrete and grass.

" _What?_ "

William nodded stiffly. Michael didn't make eye contact- not with William's death glare, and not with Elizabeth's horrified, teary green eyes.

Her mouth moved, but only choked fractions of words came out.

Michael reached out to her.

"Lizzie..."

She jumped back, barely stifling a cry and still not saying a word.

Michael pulled away.

Elizabeth's eyes scanned her surroundings. Michael's bloody face, sad and scared grey eyes, William, with no emotion in his face, the spilled toys and empty bag, the party going on inside, all of the participants blissfully unaware of what Elizabeth had just learned, the special white dress and shoes she had meant to wear to _Cassidy's birthday party._

It was _Cassidy's birthday_ , and now he was dying in the hospital, and she _wasn't even there._

Her head was reeling. She felt like she was going to die. Her breath was coming through in short gasps, she couldn't see, she couldn't hear, she couldn't think-

Without a word, she suddenly bolted, running away faster than either of them could react to stop her, only slowing for a moment to take in her surroundings so she could find William's car.

She sprinted to it, yanking open the back door, climbing inside like something was chasing her, and slamming it shut.

Moments later, her bloodcurdling scream echoed through the block.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> here we go i figured out how to only add chapter notes to the first chapter anyways the ginevra character as i said is a reference to how most ppl depict cassidy. i dont do that bc im too pretty /j


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was like halfway through this chapter and my school computer suddenly blocked Ao3 without warning??? Wtf  
> It also blocked Soundcloud, YouTube and Spotify so I'm back to my PC because I need music to focus so joke's on them they can't stop me either fuckin' way lmaooooooo 🕺💃🕺💃

Elizabeth was asleep in the backseat, curled up in fetal position with that mangled dollie Foxy held gently in her arms. She always fell asleep easily in cars, quick to be lulled to rest by the steady, low rumbling of the engine, so normally this wouldn't be that unusual of a sight. But given what she'd been told by William, Nicolette figured it had more to do with the fact that Elizabeth had just been worn down to nothing today and just shut down at the end of it all.

Michael sat next to Nicolette in the passenger seat. He was biting his thumb so hard it was bleeding. His eyes were shut tight and his breaths were strained and shallow, like the image of Cassidy in the hospital, or in Fredbear's mouth, was still fresh in his mind.

Something in the back of her mind thought to tell him to stop, but she didn't act on it. She couldn't even find the strength in her to talk to him right now.

Not when her baby boy was in the emergency room and likely going to die because of him.

So, instead, she turned her eyes back to the road. It was a long, gravelly road that lead from the rest of town to the Afton household. Save for the Emily family, Michael's best friends, Ginevra Brooks, and Susie Hall, no one ever came down this way. Nothing to see out here, just a dysfunctional family full of facades and masks and painted smiles living in a two-story house by the woods.

No one wanted to see that.

Nicolette's silver car pulled up in the driveway next to William's god-awful purple one. _She'd always thought that was such a tacky color for a car._

Michael didn't say a word as he hurried out of the car. He didn't even meet Nicolette's eyes.

She heard his car door shut, then the front door, then...

Very faintly, she heard the door to his bedroom slam shut.

It was almost inaudible, but she could hear it still. It would've been too far for most to hear, but Nicolette had always had very good hearing.

She chuckled softly, remembering the time Henry had described it as unnatural and almost inhuman. In his eyes, that had been a compliment, and he didn't seem to understand why, at the time, she'd gotten angry at him for it.

He was always a strange one, that Henry.

Her smile faded, though, as she once again saw Elizabeth in the rear view mirror. She gathered all of her will just to move from her own spot in the car, then made slow steps to the backseat door.

She slowly pulled it open and crouched down to Elizabeth's level.

"Lizzie, dear," She said softly, "You have to get up."

Elizabeth seemed to physically recoil at the thought, and now that the car was off, Nicolette could see that her body was trembling and shaking as she clung onto the toy she'd lovingly named The Mangle like it'd be able to save her from what was happening if she held it closely enough.

"Not without Cassidy..." She whimpered. "I don't wanna be home when he's gone."

The words took Nicolette by surprise. She could feel tears pricking at the corners of her eyes.

"I know, Lizzie," She reassured her daughter, her voice beginning to break. "I don't either. I know it'll feel empty without Cassidy home...

Here, why don't I carry you inside? I can take you right to bed if you'd like that."

"Yes, please..." Elizabeth mumbled.

Nicolette smiled weakly. _Ever the sweetheart,_ she thought as she carefully picked her daughter up.

Elizabeth was heavy in Nicolette's arms, not like the tiny child she'd once been who Nicolette could pick up and carry with ease. She almost slipped and dropped Elizabeth as she lifted her out of the car.

Elizabeth's hair was slightly lumpy from her pigtails and hung down in her face, sticking to the half-dry tears on her cheeks. Her lacy white dress was a little dirty, and her shoes had been abandoned in the car. She was quick to fall back asleep as her mother carried her.

Nicolette's mind wandered back to all the times she'd carried Cassidy like this, even as recently as just yesterday, when he was found in the storage closet of Freddy Fazbear's by the employees opening up. The very second Nicolette had picked him up, he'd fallen asleep in her arms, like he'd been awake all night.

An ever-familiar lump began to grow in her throat, and she swallowed hard, trying to will it away.

It didn't obey.

She bit her tongue, pressing against the front door until it opened and carrying Elizabeth inside.

She tried not to look at the hallway that lead to Cassidy's room as she went straight ahead to Elizabeth's and set the girl down in her bed, tucked her and The Mangle in with the pastel pink blanket that lay bunched up at the foot of the bed, and started to turn off the lights.

Lizzie wasn't even bothered by the lights still being on, Nicolette noted. Just too exhausted to care.

With a tall body, tan skin, wavy red hair and freckles, Elizabeth was almost a picture-perfect image of what Nicolette had looked like as a little girl, save for her emerald-green eyes- where she had those, Nicolette had dark blue eyes, so much so that people often thought they were purple.

Now, in her older age, Nicolette's curly hair had taken on more of a rusty brown color, and grey streaks were starting to set in, though they were hidden by the black color she dyed it. She was thinner, and a bit more pale. Her natural beauty in her youth had faded into a more mature look over time, but her face was always covered by makeup nowadays.

_She could only hope..._

Abandoning the light switch, she returned to her daughter's bedside. She gently brushed Elizabeth's red hair away from her face, tucking it behind her ear, and pressed a soft kiss to her forehead, wiping away the smudge of dark red lipstick from her skin with the sleeve of her blue turtleneck sweater.

"Good night, Lizzie," She said as she exited the pink, flowery bedroom, turning off the lights behind her.

_She could only hope her dear Lizzie turned out better than she did._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm currently also working on chapter 3, y'all are in for a treat (if I finish it today KDGNFDJDNFGDBV)  
> Edit: I did not finish chapter 3 that day. It is still not finished. I deeply apologize


End file.
